BOSTON 
Massachusetts Republicans vow to delay Democratic efforts Thursday to change the state's Senate succession law, but the likelihood lawmakers will ultimately give Gov. Deval Patrick the power to temporarily replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy has prompted discussion about whom he may pick.

Former Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democrats' 1988 presidential nominee; former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk Jr.; former Massachusetts Senate President Robert Travaglini and; former Kennedy staff chief Nick Littlefield have been considered, say Democratic aides and advisers. They all spoke on the condition of anonymity since the process remains speculative.

Patrick, the first black to serve as Massachusetts governor, regularly pushes his staff to consider the diversity of his appointments, prompting speculation his longtime friend, Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree, also may be a candidate. The same is said of prominent women such as former state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien.

Dukakis refused to discuss a possible appointment after he attended a Statehouse ceremony on Wednesday, even though he was introduced in jest as "Sen. Dukakis."

Instead, he lobbied for the law change, which would allow the governor to appoint a temporary occupant while the state holds a five-month special election campaign to fill the seat permanently.

A WHDH-TV/Suffolk University poll found that 55 percent of Massachusetts voters support changing the law, with 41 percent opposed. The poll of 500 registered voters was conducted Sept. 12 through 15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Dukakis said pending political issues in Washington demand two Senate votes from Massachusetts. Among them is a health care overhaul that is a passion of his, was the priority of Kennedy's and is the focus of a major legislative push by President Barack Obama.

Obama aides have been pushing the succession change so they can regain a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.

"The only thing that I'm concerned about is that the bill passes," Dukakis said as he sped toward an elevator. "I think it will be very important. We need that 60th vote in the Senate, but that's all I'm going to say."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said presidential counselor David Axelrod had called Massachusetts officials "to see where the process is in terms of replacing a vacant Senate seat, understanding that we have important debates that are upcoming in the U.S. Senate."

Gibbs dodged any suggestion the White House is actively lobbying for the change, but the Massachusetts branch of Obama's political arm, Organizing for America, sent its second e-mail in a week advocating for the change.

The bill being considered Thursday would require the appointee be from the same party as the person who created the vacancy, a Democrat in the case of Kennedy's successor. The governor also has outlined at least one criterion for the pick: The appointee must agree not to be a candidate in the special election, to avoid charges of political favoritism.

The primary election is Dec. 8; the special election is Jan. 19.

While aides say Patrick could be ready to make an announcement as early as Friday, Republicans are vowing to erect procedural roadblocks. They accuse legislative Democrats and Kennedy, who proposed the law change in deathbed letters to Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, of a power grab.